


Celestial Anchors

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Introspection, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-20 23:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holmes knows more about astronomy than Watson observed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Celestial Anchors

**Author's Note:**

> Written for JWP #21: **_lost comet_**. Use however this inspires you - whether it's the phrase, the idea, or an actual 'lost' comet, [such as the one rediscovered in 1894](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54P/de_Vico%E2%80%93Swift%E2%80%93NEAT) (among other years).
> 
>   
>  **Warnings** : Introspection, extended tortured analogies. **And absolutely no beta.** This was written in a complete rush. You have been warned.  
> 

  
  
  
  
  
  
As a boy I learned the stars.  
  
This might surprise readers of certain stories published in the Strand Magazines and other periodicals, who are only familiar with my celestial knowledge in such statements as my lack of awareness that the Earth revolves around the Sun. It is true, I dismiss such facts as useless. They cannot help me in my chosen career. But a man may navigate his way by the stars, find his direction on a moonless night. He can find light bright enough to read by in the glow of a brilliant comet, at least for a few weeks. He can predict the likelihood of crime by the presence or lack of a moon.  
  
These things are useful, and so I remember them.  
  
It is the nature of comets to dominate the sky, draw attention, inspire awe and fear. They do not last long, but while they are in ascendance, they obscure lesser objects and demand all focus until they gradually fade away. Their tails can even temporarily obscure more permanent, useful objects, such as the pole stars.  
  
Moriarty was such a comet. He was a once in a lifetime event, blazing brighter in the murky criminal sky than any. He commanded all my attention, and worthily so. In the natural course of events, he would have perhaps faded away gradually, as comets do; but he would have wreaked untold havoc until he finally disappeared.  
  
This did not happen. I quenched him myself, cut off his tail, eclipsed his glory, watched his brilliance drown in the depths of Richenbach Falls. The world is far better for his absence, and yet I find myself bereft by his loss. I miss that terrible light that blazed so brightly in my consciousness and provided illumination in some of my darkest days.  
  
Watson is a truer source of illumination. He has nothing of Moriarty’s brilliance, but he is fixed, a constant guide, stalwart and true. He has long been my pole star, though there have been times when I have lost sight of him, blinded by other objects.  
  
I am far from him still, wandering alone, my eyes still dazzled and weakened by my lost comet. But someday soon I hope to finish clearing all Moriarty’s remaining obstacles away, and find myself once again in his benevolent orbit.  
  
Even in his absence, he guides me yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 21, 2013


End file.
